Global health officials target tobacco additives - Countries agree on tobacco control

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

A conference on tobacco held in Uruguay has recommended that additives used to make cigarettes more appealing to new smokers should be restricted or banned. Delegates from over 170 countries that have signed a UN tobacco control treaty also said tobacco producers should disclose their products' ingredients.

These guidelines - adopted by consensus - represent the latest public health setback for the tobacco industry.

WHO figures point to huge losses of life from tobacco use.

The World Health Organisation says that tobacco kills more people than Aids, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder and suicide combined. It estimates that of the more than six billion people alive today, half a billion will eventually be killed by tobacco.

A spokesman for the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Tarik Jasarevic, told the BBC the industry had lobbied hard against the latest measures. Mr Jasarevic suggested the delegates wanted to make it harder for the industry to target young people. "The parties feel that from the point of view of public health, there is no justification to use ingredients that increase the attractiveness of tobacco products, that in turn increase the number of new smokers, especially among young people," he said.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11804767

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Countries agree on tobacco control

Representatives of 172 nations agree to link guidelines on tobacco use and sale to broader economic development issues.

Source: Al Jazeera English

Last Modified: Nov 21 2010 01:53 GMT

Representatives of 172 countries, signatories of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, have agreed on guidelines to control the use and sale of tobacco products.

The countries agreed to integrate smoking cessation programmes into national health systems, and support programmes aimed at educating people about the health risks of smoking, the WHO said in a statement on Saturday following a week-long conference in Uruguay.

"These guidelines will help countries adapt their laws to meet the false arguments of the tobacco industry," said Canadian Cancer Society senior policy analyst Rob Cunningham.

The event, known as the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the global tobacco treaty, approved guidelines on controlling tobacco flavourings and additives despite lobbying from the tobacco industry.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/11/2010112112831281407.html

[Ghost Dog]

1. Is it the tobacco that does most damage? Or the commercial additives?

How much longer shall we have to wait, to know?